It might sound crazy to bring this up during a Halloween countdown but guess what? Two months until Christmas! Since it's October 25th I'm doing a slightly Christmas themed review today with a look at the new Skeletor ornament from Hallmark. Earlier this month I reviewed the new He-Man ornament so now we've got a foe to battle with He-Man on your Christmas tree. Hallmark released a version of Skeletor in their Keepsake Collection in 2017 (which I own) but this version is a bit different and a bit smaller. He's also only $8 dollars and you can find him on the shelves of various retailers (mine came from Walmart). Ready for a look at one of the new stars of my Christmas tree this year? Then join me after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 3 inches
Non-Scalper Price: $8 dollars
The Positives:
* Like He-Man from this series, Skeletor does look to be very Filmation inspired. I think it's the choice of colors, the way the skull is sculpted, and the design of the Havoc Staff. The colors are spot on and Skeletor looks excellent. He suitably muscular and evil meaning you'll need lots of heroic ornaments on your tree to shut him down. I'm going to place him surrounded by He-Man, G.I. Joe, Batman, and three Magi to keep him in check.
* The headsculpt does look like the Filmation design. It almost looks like he was sculpted in a laughing pose. It's a bit unusual looking up close but from the average distance you view Christmas tree ornaments (you know, when they're hanging on a tree rather than being reviewed on a website) he looks excellent. And evil. Don't let him team up with Ebenezer Scrooge and Professor Hinkle!
* The Havoc Staff captures the Filmation design perfectly and looks great. I love the sculpt on it. There's quite a bit of detail for a Christmas ornament.
* The figure is fully painted on the back and has a white ribbon attached to the top so you can easily hang him from your Christmas tree without needing a hook.
The Negatives:
* There is a bit of messy paint on this guy, most noticeably around the edges of hood and face. You might shop around and find one a bit better (and probably some a bit worse) so keep an eye out.
You can say what you want about 2021 but you can't deny it's been a pretty amazing year for Masters of the Universe stuff. I mean, just three or four years ago would you have believed me if I told you that you'd be able to walk into Walmart and find MOTU Christmas ornaments, Tiki mugs, and four or five different toylines? That's crazy! This is a Good and a 1/2 little Christmas tree decoration although since it's an evil skeleton with a magic staff you could use him on your Halloween tree as well if you have one of those. Could there possibly be more of Skeletor to come for Skeletober? You better believe it...
I've reviewed so many toys based on Skeletor/ Keldor that I've given him his own review archive. Check out
Snake Mountain for a plethora of Skeletor reviews!
Almost an endless range of MotU merchandise in all sorts of styles and sizes the past year or so, yeah. Something for everyone's preferred MotU tastes and I don't see the need to get all hateful about one that doesn't quite work for you (like Revelation-hate trolls). I don't particularly like the new Netflix CGI show, it's designs or it's toys but I know that has it's own piece of the MotU market too with some overlap just like any other MotU line. :) These hallmark ornaments are a nice addition too. If I ever had a christmas tree (doesn't feel worth buying and setting one up when you live alone and never have guests) I'd probably add some of these to mine too for a more geeky Christmas. :) I do have a real tiny Christmas tree that I set up the past couple years for MCX figures (yep, mostly MotU) to be displayed around so I'm not completely without Christmas in my home. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed that it sounds like the MCX MOTU advent calendar isn't happening! I was really looking forward to that.
DeleteYeah, I'm still not sure if that's ever coming out or not. I mean certainly not this year, but they seems to suggest it might be next year? I dunno. I really wanted that lil Orko (even if it's got a christmas wreath pattern instead of his 'O'), the cute lil micro-figures (even smaller than those world's smallest ever figurines and clip inside the hands of MCX figures), the lil tiny builds of vehicles and the harness molded with the H (rather than the cross, as a kid the cross always did bother me a bit) like Relevation He-Man has (which a lot of people complained about and said it was some new crap but is actually the exact same symbol from vintage He-Man toys like Battle Armour and Thunder Punch so it had ALWAYS been a legit symbol for him and I do prefer it especially as it's far more distinct on it's own whereas the cross on it's own looks bit..well..nazi... and having He-Man looking quite Aryan doesn't help matters there. :P
DeleteWhoa! Did not know Hallmark was putting this ornament out! Thanks for letting us know! I'm gonna have to trudge on down and look for (a nicely painted) one!
ReplyDeleteThere's both He-Man and Skeletor and in actual Hallmark stores there is a Castle Grayskull.
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